Rizzuto crime family
Encyclopedia
The Rizzuto family is a Mafia
organization based in Montreal
, Quebec
, Canada
. The family territory covers most of southern Quebec and Ontario. The FBI considers the family connected to the Bonanno family, but the Canadian law enforcement considers it a separate crime family. The Rizzuto family was part of the powerful Montreal Cotroni family
until an internal war broke out and the Rizzutos formed their own family.
and Calabrian
factions. The Sicilian faction was led by Nicolo Rizzuto
and the Calabrian faction was led by family boss Vic Cotroni. This led to a violent Mafia war in Montreal leading to the deaths of Paolo Violi
(who was acting capo
and underboss for Vic Cotroni) and others in the late 1970s. The war ended when Vic Cotroni the Calabrian leader had to let go of the Sicilian faction led by Nicolo Rizzuto in control by the blessing of the Bonanno family. Today the family is considered the strongest crime family in Canada. The leader is Vito Rizzuto
the son of the first, and late leader Nicolo Rizzuto.
. He remained at the top of Canada's criminal underworld by keeping a low profile, working only with trusted people close to the family, and spreading the wealth around. He is credited with playing a major role in bringing a truce in the deadly war between the Hells Angels
and the Rock Machine
in Quebec. The Rizzutos worked with both Sicilian Mafia and Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta families, the Cuntrera-Caruana Mafia clan (which branched out from Sicily to Canada and South America), Colombian drug cartels and the five Mafia families of New York, in particular the Bonannos
and Gambinos
. Rizzuto was the mediator who oversaw the peace with the Hells Angels, the Mafia, street gangs, Colombian cartels and the Irish mobs such as the West End Gang
when the order of the day was co-operation.
) and was sentenced to ten years in May 2007. In November 2006 the senior leadership of the criminal organization was hit by a police operation, dubbed Project Colisee. Among the 90 people arrested were Nick Rizzuto, father of Vito Rizzuto, Paolo Renda, Vito Rizzuto's brother-in-law, and Francesco Arcadi.
On December 28, 2009, Nick Rizzuto Jr., son of Vito Rizzuto, was shot and killed near his car in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce
, a borough in Montreal. The killing of Nick Jr. – the face of the organization on the street – illustrated the power vacuum within the upper ranks of Montreal organized crime.
of Montreal
with a single bullet from a sniper's rifle punched through two layers of glass in the rear patio doors of his Montreal mansion.
Calabrian mobsters in the Cotroni family are believed responsible for the murders of Rizzuto crime family members. The Rizzuto's have dominated organized crime activities in Montreal since it's inception and now their weakened organization is being challenged for control of rackets in the area, most notability the drug trade. It is unknown if the New York City families
, historically aligned with the Rizzuto's, are supporting or against the new leadership. Salvatore Montagna
, the acting boss of the Bonanno family until his deporation to Canada in 2009, was believed to be attempting to reorganize both families under his control. If so, he was unsuccessful and was murdered in November 2011. Vito Rizzuto
will be released on October 6, 2012, and it remains to be seen if or how he will seek revenge and a return to power.
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
organization based in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The family territory covers most of southern Quebec and Ontario. The FBI considers the family connected to the Bonanno family, but the Canadian law enforcement considers it a separate crime family. The Rizzuto family was part of the powerful Montreal Cotroni family
Cotroni family
The Cotroni crime family is a Mafia organization based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The territory controlled by the family once covered most of southern Quebec and Ontario, until the Rizzuto family supplanted them...
until an internal war broke out and the Rizzutos formed their own family.
History
In the 1970s an internal war broke out in the Cotroni crime family between the SicilianSicilian
Sicily is an autonomous Italian island. The adjectival form Sicilian can also refer to:* Sicilian language* Sicilian Baroque, baroque architecture in 17th & 18th centuries on Sicily...
and Calabrian
Calabrian
Calabrian may refer to:* Calabrian languages, the languages and dialects spoken in Calabria* Calabrians, the people of Calabria, southern Italy...
factions. The Sicilian faction was led by Nicolo Rizzuto
Nicolo Rizzuto
Nicolo Rizzuto , also known as Nick Rizzuto, was the crime boss of the Sicilian faction of the Italian Mafia in Montreal who later pushed out the Calabrian Cotroni family. Rizzuto was born in Cattolica Eraclea, Sicily, in 1924, and immigrated to Canada in 1954 when the family settled in Montreal...
and the Calabrian faction was led by family boss Vic Cotroni. This led to a violent Mafia war in Montreal leading to the deaths of Paolo Violi
Paolo Violi
Paolo Violi was an Italian-Canadian mobster and longtime underboss of the Bonanno crime family's faction in Montreal, the Cotroni crime family. The Violi and Cotroni families were from Calabria while the Rizzuto crime family, like the Bonannos, were from Sicily...
(who was acting capo
Caporegime
A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to just a capo, is a term used in the Mafia for a high ranking made member of a crime family who heads a "crew" of soldiers and has major social status and influence in the organization...
and underboss for Vic Cotroni) and others in the late 1970s. The war ended when Vic Cotroni the Calabrian leader had to let go of the Sicilian faction led by Nicolo Rizzuto in control by the blessing of the Bonanno family. Today the family is considered the strongest crime family in Canada. The leader is Vito Rizzuto
Vito Rizzuto
Vito Rizzuto , known as Montreal's Teflon Don, was alleged to be the leading Mafia boss of the Sicilian Mafia in Canada and heads the Rizzuto crime family.-Family:...
the son of the first, and late leader Nicolo Rizzuto.
Vito Rizzuto's leadership
Vito Rizzuto's style of business was a striking contrast to flamboyant American mobsters like John GottiJohn Gotti
John Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
. He remained at the top of Canada's criminal underworld by keeping a low profile, working only with trusted people close to the family, and spreading the wealth around. He is credited with playing a major role in bringing a truce in the deadly war between the Hells Angels
Hells Angels
The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is a worldwide one-percenter motorcycle gang and organized crime syndicate whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation. Their primary motto...
and the Rock Machine
Rock Machine
Rock Machine, or The Rock Machine M.C., is an outlaw motorcycle gang with six Canadian chapters, six United States chapters and eight chapters in Australia. Formed in 1986 by Salvatore Cazzetta, a former friend of Hells Angels Quebec chapter president Maurice Boucher, the Rock Machine competed...
in Quebec. The Rizzutos worked with both Sicilian Mafia and Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta families, the Cuntrera-Caruana Mafia clan (which branched out from Sicily to Canada and South America), Colombian drug cartels and the five Mafia families of New York, in particular the Bonannos
Bonanno crime family
The Bonanno crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia ....
and Gambinos
Gambino crime family
The Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...
. Rizzuto was the mediator who oversaw the peace with the Hells Angels, the Mafia, street gangs, Colombian cartels and the Irish mobs such as the West End Gang
West End Gang
The West End Gang is one of Canada's most influential organized crime groups. Active since the early 1900s, their rise to notoriety did not begin until the 1960s when they were known simply as the "Irish gang". Their criminal activities were focused on, but not restricted to, the west side of...
when the order of the day was co-operation.
Current status
After consolidation of their power in the 1990s, the Rizzutos became over-exposed and over-extended. Vito Rizzuto was arrested in January 2004 for his involvement in the 1981 gangland killings of three rival Bonanno crime family captains (Alphonse Indelicato, Phillip Giaccone and Dominick TrincheraDominick Trinchera
Dominick "Big Trin" Trinchera was a Bonanno crime family capo who was murdered with Alphonse Indelicato and Phillip Giaccone for planning the overthrow of aspiring Bonanno boss Phillip Rastelli.-Biography:Born in Rockland, New York, Trinchera was the son of an immigrant from Rome, Italy and an...
) and was sentenced to ten years in May 2007. In November 2006 the senior leadership of the criminal organization was hit by a police operation, dubbed Project Colisee. Among the 90 people arrested were Nick Rizzuto, father of Vito Rizzuto, Paolo Renda, Vito Rizzuto's brother-in-law, and Francesco Arcadi.
On December 28, 2009, Nick Rizzuto Jr., son of Vito Rizzuto, was shot and killed near his car in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce
Notre-Dame-de-Grâce
Notre-Dame-de-Grâce , also nicknamed NDG, is a residential neighbourhood of Montreal located in the city's west-end. It is one of five districts of the borough of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce...
, a borough in Montreal. The killing of Nick Jr. – the face of the organization on the street – illustrated the power vacuum within the upper ranks of Montreal organized crime.
Ahuntsic-Cartierville
Ahuntsic-Cartierville is a borough of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.-Geography:The borough is located in the northern part of Montreal along the banks of the Rivière des Prairies, and includes some islands in the river such as Île aux Chats, Île Perry, and Île de la Visitation...
of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
with a single bullet from a sniper's rifle punched through two layers of glass in the rear patio doors of his Montreal mansion.
Calabrian mobsters in the Cotroni family are believed responsible for the murders of Rizzuto crime family members. The Rizzuto's have dominated organized crime activities in Montreal since it's inception and now their weakened organization is being challenged for control of rackets in the area, most notability the drug trade. It is unknown if the New York City families
Five Families
The Five Families are the five original Italian-American Mafia crime families which have dominated organized crime in America since 1931. The Five Families in New York remain as the powerhouse of the Italian Mafia in the United States.-History:...
, historically aligned with the Rizzuto's, are supporting or against the new leadership. Salvatore Montagna
Salvatore Montagna
Salvatore "Sal the Iron Worker" Montagna was an acting boss of the Bonanno crime family of the New York City mafia families, and the Sicilian faction-leader of the Bronx section. At the time of his death, he had been associated with the Rizzuto crime family of Montreal...
, the acting boss of the Bonanno family until his deporation to Canada in 2009, was believed to be attempting to reorganize both families under his control. If so, he was unsuccessful and was murdered in November 2011. Vito Rizzuto
Vito Rizzuto
Vito Rizzuto , known as Montreal's Teflon Don, was alleged to be the leading Mafia boss of the Sicilian Mafia in Canada and heads the Rizzuto crime family.-Family:...
will be released on October 6, 2012, and it remains to be seen if or how he will seek revenge and a return to power.